Kitty Macfarlne - Shows you how a solo Folk show... should be done

*****

Hello Kitty!!!

Kitty Macfarlane ***** is a singer songwriter based in Bristol, but from the depths of Somerset originally. Tonight she is just up the road from her current home town and visiting the wonderfully intimate Chapel Arts Centre in Bath. Tonight's performance see's her alone on the stage with a guitar, and sampler in a sparkly green dress... which we later find it is based on a eel, but more on that later. For the opening number ‘Starling Song’ the guitar stays where it is and her wonderful singing voice is accompanied by sample of birds from a song inspired by the murmuration of starlings in Somerset, her home county is certainly her inspiration.

Myths and legends also play a part in creating the stories she tells, most of her songs do have a tale and a back story which she passes on in a very traditional Folk style. It makes it a captivating evening,  one such story that stood out was that of a giant who after throwing himself in the sea due to lost love becomes the island of Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel after his brother had carved out the Avon Gorge. Throughout each song Kitty is fully immersed in the music, usually with eyes closed as she lets the music take her along, as it does with the crowd who listen in respectful silence for the duration.

Returning the Bristol Channel for the theme of ‘Morgan’s Panty’ and the story of the morgans who were the sirens living beneath a waterfall emerging from the Quantock Hills, it is fascinating to her speak of the inspiration behind her songs with obvious passion. To move away from Somerset the song ‘Glass Eel’, her favourite animal apparently, tells a tale of people being free to move around in a time when some seemingly want to lose that freedom. ‘Wrecking Days’ another cautionary tale of our impact on the planet with items found on the strand line on the beaches of Cornwall, all done in her Traditional Folk style where her voice draws you into each song.  

Most of the samples were sourced herself by driving around Somerset with a microphone too in commitment to her art. ‘Sea Silk’ is yet another wonderful tale about the traditional, but dying, art of weaving cloth from the strands of the great clams to make a golden coloured cloth that cannot be sold in the Mediterranean and to add to the international theme there was also a  number about oyster catchers in Brittany. This was a concert where I was utterly captivated for the whole, Kitty is a modern bard offering tales and tunes that leave you wanting to hear the next folktale or legend.

Review by Jon Cooper and Photo's by Steve Owen (Icarus Photography)

Check Out! The Video for 'Wrecking Days' below...